supplemental

American  

[suhp-luh-men-tl] / ˌsʌp ləˈmɛn tl /

adjective

1. supplementary.

2. nonscheduled.

3. (of a pleading, an affidavit, etc.) added to furnish what is lacking or missing.

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noun

1. anything that is supplemental.

   supplementals attached to the bill in committee.

Other Word Forms

• nonsupplemental
  adjective
• presupplemental
  adjective
• unsupplemental
  adjective
• nonsupplementally
  adverb
• supplementally
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of supplemental

First recorded in 1595–1605; supplement + -al ¹

Explanation

You can use the adjective supplemental to describe something extra. You could volunteer to donate your collection of markers and colored pencils to a local school that needs supplemental art supplies. Something that's supplemental is added when there's a lack or deficiency. You might feed the runt from a litter of puppies supplemental milk because he can't get enough from his mother. Teachers are famous for assigning supplemental reading to round out the information in a textbook. Supplemental comes from the Latin supplementum, "added to supply a deficiency."

Example Sentences

The legislation also aims to simplify the process for granting consent to major infrastructure projects - such as hospitals and electricity pylons - needed to supply vital services to new housing.

From BBC • Jul. 17, 2024

Any mass return could put further strains on efforts to supply vital aid to more than 2 million displaced people in South Sudan who have fled their homes inside the country because of civil strife.

From Reuters • Apr. 21, 2023

In other parts of the world, countries that are able to supply vital materials and goods — particularly energy producers in the Middle East and North Africa — are seeing windfall gains.

From New York Times • Sep. 8, 2022

Throughout the album, he expresses disillusionment with the internet; and yet, the internet was vital to the album’s rollout — he used it to supply vital paratext.

From Salon • Apr. 9, 2017

These tactics are all part of a new diplomatic offensive aimed at isolating the U.S.S.R., wooing the Third World and cementing economic ties with Western industrialized nations that can supply vital technology.

From Time Magazine Archive